SEP 22, 14 .. FOOTBALL .. DETROIT 19 - 7 GREEN BAY ..

Yo Shaddy .. were you and Lon watching ?

Shaddy and Lon live in Wisconsin .. the state where the Green Bay (Wisconsin) Packers are from.  The Green Bay Packers are one of the most famous and storied franchises in all of the National Football League.  They go by the 'nickname' of 'The Pack'.  No other NFL team has won as many championships as have the Green Bay Packers.     

Where was I for goodness sakes?  Before Patti and I left (in the rain) for the game yesterday .. I e-mailed Shaddy and said ..

"We feel like staying home and not fighting the rain and not dealing with the parking and the crowds we would face in getting to and from our parking lot into Ford Field and then up to our seats in-the 'nosebleed section' of Ford Field."  So we were seriously thinking about 'eating' our $267 dollar tickets! 

Had we two known that the Denver Broncos were playing the Seattle Seahawks at 4:30PM yesterday afternoon ..

WE NEVER WOULD HAVE GONE to see our beloved  Detroit Lions play the Green Bay Packers.  We would have stayed home and relaxed in front of our television set and watched both games at home.

Well .. for reasons neither of us totally understand .. because staying home made perfect sense .. off we two drove about 9 o'clock in the A.M. heading south down Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak Michigan aiming for the very heart of downtown Detroit Michigan and Ford Field home of the Lions.

And it all-worked-out fine!  We parked close to Ford Field in the Olympia Entertainment parking lot.  We were so early that we got a parking place in the front row in the handicapped section which made for a perfect get-away when we left the game.  Parking cost us $35 U.S. Dollars.

Where to begin?  How about TICKETS! 

IF you want to go-to-the-game .. you MUST have tickets!

  
I know you are a mathematician 'Zilla.  By the time taxes and fees were added to the $103.50 price of the tickets they came to a total of $267.

On our way to Ford Field from our parking lot .. Patti and I saw a lot of Tailgating.

And WHAT IS Tailgating ? 

'Google' and 'Wikipedia' .. what-on-earth would we all do without you two!?

A tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating, which originated in the United States, often involves consuming alcoholic beverages and grilling food. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas, before and occasionally after games and concerts. People attending such a party are said to be tailgating. Many people participate even if their vehicles do not have tailgates.

I mean to-tell-you-all that Tailgating IS FUN!!

And what does Tailgating LOOK LIKE? 

I thought you would never ask?  Below are some photographs of Tailgating before the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers football game yesterday .. Sunday .. September 21st, 2014.

The gentleman on the left in the photo below wearing number 52 is wearing a Green Bay Packers team jersey.  The gentleman on the right is wearing a Detroit Lions team jersey.  I stopped and visited with the two-of-them.

Yes Patti I broke-out-of-my shy and quiet and reserved 'self' ..
  

Being at the venue three hours before game-time .. Patti and I had a lot of time to see-the-Tailgating outside of Ford Field.  

In the extreme right foreground of the below photo you can actually see the open tailgate of the truck.

The black mini-van on the left edge of the below photo also has its tailgate down and open. In the background below is Comerica Park .. the home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team.

I really got-it-on visiting with the very friendly group in the two photos below.
  

Now walking past the tailgaters Patti and I proceeded toward Ford Field.

The partying below is NOT tailgating but more organized gatherings in local restaurants adjacent to Ford Field.

On the right of the above crowd of people were the below music disc jockeys from a local Detroit radio station.

OH YES!

It is .. Ah-h-h-h-h .. A tad loud outside of Ford Field before a Lions game!  The music is really blasting from several locations.

Detroit Classic Rock outside of Ford Field at the Elwood Grill!

I snapped the below photograph looking down upon the Elwood Grill from inside of Ford Field.  At the below right is the scene I showed up-close a few photos above.

And now we approach Ford Field itself .. Patti and I are almost there!

DEFEND THE LION'S DEN!  Home of the Detroit Lions!

And VOILA! Patti and I are now inside of Ford Field.

In-a-word .. Ford Field is .. SPOTLESS !

More .. Ever More .. Loud music blasting INSIDE of Ford Field! From the Tailgaters to the Disc Jockeys to the crowd all-around-us .. everyone was happy and rocking!

Looking down at the crowd-below us .. Patti and I had taken an elevator up to our third level .. you can see a partial view of the football playing field in the far background of the below photo.

The gigantic Pepsi-Cola bottle in each photo (above and below) orients you to the playing field.

Can you all see how absolutely immaculate Ford Field is?

I took the following photographs below looking outside from the upper level of Ford Field.  Comerica Park is the home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team.  Comerica Park is immediately adjacent to Ford Field .. they sit together .. side-by-side!

The white globes in the above and below photographs are meant to represent baseballs.

'Zilla .. the kind and gentle folks in India may not know what the white balls represent!

More photos looking down on the crowd outside of Ford Field.

Have a beer Lon and Shaddy!

Not-to-worry .. IF you are hungry .. there is food inside!

It is time to check-out the playing field as viewed from the center of the field .. the 50-yard-line.  In the four photographs below I look from left of the playing field then to the center and finally to right of the field.

Notice the luxury suites in the upper tier of Ford Field directly across the field in these photographs.

In the below photograph .. on the extreme right side is where Patti and I sat looking down upon the end-zone as viewed from the upper tier of seats.

The photos below were snapped from our seats.

I know that I am repeating myself but bear-with-me.  In the below photo you see the luxury suites directly across the playing field.

If you turn 180 degrees around from the above scene .. you will see in the below photograph that on the other side of the field (opposite from that above) there are no luxury suites.

I was not able to enter the luxury suites side of the field so had to snap the below photo from our seats.

Now it is time for some football!  First the team introductions.

Complete with exploding FIRE BALLS and SMOKE!

And? 

NOISE!  A LOT OF NOISE! And Lion growls!

There is an enormous staff of employees who present these major sporting events.  I snapped the below photos of one of the television cameramen I passed while walking around Ford Field.

And lastly just a few photographs of the game in progress.

In the first photo below .. the Green Bay Packers were 'pinned' back upon their own 1-yard-line.  Immediately after I snapped the photo the Lions scored a 2-point safety against 'The Pack'! 

And in this last photo below .. our Detroit Lions were at the Green Bay 12-yard-line and were about-to-score upon 'The Pack'.

Well that-is-it for another Detroit Lions football game at Ford Field.

I believe that the Green Bay Packers have beaten our Lions about 20 times in the past 24 games.  The Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers had 12 wins and 1 loss against our Lions until yesterday.  So he is now 12 and 2 against the Lions.

So we shall be humble and NOT 'say much' about beating the Pack except to say ..

HOW SWEET IT WAS!

Lon and Shaddy .. I hope you felt like you-were-there with Patti and myself.

Smiles .. Cap and Patti ..

SEP 10, 14 .. MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ..

Here in the United States of America .. like most nations .. we have many sports.  We have amateur (non-paid) and we have professional (PAID) sports.  We have televised and non-televised sports.

In terms of televised professional sports here in the United States .. I will not debate this but perhaps our Number One Most Popular Sport is the National Football League .. or the .. NFL.

I always like to advise my readers in foreign countries to 'Google' .. The National Football League .. then click onto the Wikipedia link.

This past weekend .. beginning last Thursday the 4th of September and continuing through to Monday the 8th of September .. the 2014-2015 season of the NFL began.

IF .. again I will not debate this .. there is a particular 'big day' or a 'prime time' for an NFL game to be televised .. in my opinion .. it is the single game played on either Sunday night or Monday night.  The NFL tends to schedule games in these two 'time slots' that will draw a large television viewer audience.

There are thirty (32) two teams in the NFL.  Thus ONLY four teams will be scheduled to play on the Sunday and Monday night time slots.

To fans and players alike .. it is a bit of a 'Big Deal' to be viewing or to be playing in a game on either Sunday Night or Monday Night.

In general .. a team will be scheduled for these two premier 'time slots' only once or twice a season .. and then only the best teams are selected.

DON'T ASK ME! I DON'T HAVE A CLUE..

As to why .. on God's green earth .. our Detroit Lions were selected for the season opening MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game!  I love the Lions BUT .. 

When I heard 'The Lions' were going to play in the season opening Monday Night Football Game .. I said to Patti .. "Let's go to the game!"

Step One .. (No! NOT THAT Step One!) .. To get into the game you must have a ticket.  So 'on-line' I went and bought two tickets on the after-market because the game was sold-out (meaning that NO tickets were available from the official Detroit Lions Ticket Office). 

Then you must drive to the venue (the location) of the game and find a place-to-park.  

OF ALL THINGS .. the Detroit Lions Football Team and the Detroit Tigers Baseball Team were scheduled to .. and in fact DID .. play games at overlapping times.  So parking for an estimated one-hundred-thousand (100,000) sports fans was .. shall we say .. 

A CHALLENGE because the stadiums for each team are NEXT TO ONE ANOTHER and the two teams thus SHARE the same parking facilities.

Well Patti and I 'lucked out' and got a place to park about one-mile from the stadium and ONLY had to pay FORTY ($40) U.S. Dollars.

We parked in-a-field .. the man who we paid almost .. not quite .. but almost laughed-in-my-face when I asked him if he had a receipt for my $40 parking fee.  Earlier Patti and I tried to park in another field and a local .. uniformed Detroit Police Office told us .. "N-n-n-n-n-n-n .. NO! You don't want to park here!"  We took-his-advice.  Sissy because you wanted to see your truck again!! 

The white colored building in-the-distance is FORD FIELD.

'Zilla .. in the foreground below do you see the red pick-up truck and the white panel truck behind it?  FORD FIELD is the white building above the white panel truck.  Got it? Good! 

We hiked a bit and could see FORD FIELD had moved a tad closer.

Last August .. when we arrived here .. Patti and I purchased a wonderful 'Transportation Chair' .. WHAT A POSITIVE PURCHASE THAT WAS!

Here she is!

This beauty is very light-in-weight and folds up so nicely!

WIN - WIN !! Patti gets-to-ride .. Cap gets wonderful EXERCISE !!

I had 'scouted-out' a NIFTY sounding restaurant fairly close to FORD FIELD before we left home and VOILA !  'Small Plates' was THE BEST ..

Both of us were really happy with 'Small Plates' .. a cute venue!

"Yes Gullible?" .. "Photos of the food Gullible?" .. "Where are the photos of the food you ask?" .. "I just now thought .. I forgot to photograph the small plates of food! "

Are we having some fun here ?  I am ! On to FORD FIELD we go rolling Patti and I !

Below are two photos of COMERICA PARK ..

COMERICA PARK is where the Detroit Tigers play baseball and it is beside FORD FIELD ..

Towards the right side of the below photo can you see a red-street-light on a tall light-pole with people walking across the street beside it?  Now look up and past COMERICA PARK .. on the other side is FORD FIELD where we are heading.

  

"OK 'Zilla! Dead Center! See FORD?"

Let the Party begin!

"Whats that 'Zilla?"

"Yes! The Lions Team Color IS BLUE!  Actually SILVER and BLUE.

As you look at the photos .. it sounds QUIET.  In real life .. at-the-party .. there was music and some carrying-on sounds!

Was it Rocking Captain?  Yes! It was ROCKING!

Oh Yes!  We are getting closer .. ever closer ..

DEFEND YOUR LIONS-DEN YOU DETROIT LIONS!

Oh my goodness!  As Patti and I worked-our-way through the crowd .. Patti riding and me pushing her 'transportation chair' .. you could see and you could hear and you could FEEL the rising excitement building all around us!

LET ME PAUSE AND TELL YOU ALL!!

Patti and I have been to a lot of major sports venues!  The Super Dome in New Orleans.  Cowboy Stadium in Dallas.  San Antonio (basketball) home of the Spurs.  The Palace of Auburn Hills (the Detroit Pistons). The Joe (Detroit Red Wings ice hockey). 

WITH NO EXCEPTION EVER !!

In each and in every-single-venue .. we have been treated magnificently!! 

As we were being engulfed by the massive crowd pushing its way into FORD FIELD .. from out-of-nowhere came a stadium employee and he-took-charge!  This gentleman looked like a former Detroit Lions lineman!  

Make-way-please! .. Coming-through! .. and Patti and I were led to a special VIP entrance where we went straight in with no pushing nor shoving what-so-ever.

Then we were INSIDE!

    

THERE IS THE FIELD!

The pre-game activities.

Below in the white uniforms .. the United States Naval Academy choir singing!

Looking from our seats to our left at the super expensive luxury suites.

And looking to our right at the other side of the playing field.

Sometimes .. from time-to-time it happens .. Ol' Bobba Caps lucks-out. And I lucked-out picking the seats for the game from the internet.

Looking down-our-row of seats in Section 319.  Do you see Patti?

Do you all see that we were ELEVATED UP ABOVE and separated by a walkway from the next tier of seating below us?  I HAD NO IDEA we would be so elevated when I purchased the seats!

In the below photo you can REALLY see what I am talking about!  We sat in the row of seats UP and to the left side of the photo.  The number 219 is for the section in front of and below us.

A look down at the seating below us.  A SEA OF BLUE!

More BLUE behind us!

The New York Football Giants vs the Detroit Lions.

Our National Anthem and Flag Ceremony!

GAME TIME !

If you look closely at the photo below you can see the moving trolley that carries two-tiers of cameramen shooting close-up scenes of the game from the side lines.  This trolley moved up and down the sidelines throughout the game!  The top cameraman was really up-high-in-the-air!

Patti and I absolutely LOVED OUR SEATS and the view of the game there from!  I believe that all-but-one scoring play took place at our-end-of-the-field!

At the very top of the below photo .. and in the photo above looking at the Lions insignia on the field .. you can see the floating overhead camera that moves up and down the field shooting overhead televison shots of the game below.

THE PARTY IS OVER !

DETROIT 35 - 14 NEW YORK !

And?  And?  AND? 

Patti and I have purchased tickets to see the Detroit Lions Football Team play Lon and Shaddy's Green Bay Packers on Sunday September 21st!

With Much Joy .. We hope you all enjoyed this Post ..

Cap and Patti ..